ISRO releases first Earth pictures taken by Chandrayaan 2

Indian space agency ISRO on Sunday released the first set of pictures of the Earth captured by Chandrayaan 2, the country’s second Moon mission, which was launched a fortnight ago.

The pictures were captured by L14 camera on board Chandrayaan 2 on Saturday, the Indian Space Research Organisation announced on Twitter.

Since the launch of Chandrayaan 2, several pictures have been circulated claiming to have been taken by the Indian spacecraft. However, the space agency had said those images were not taken by Chandrayaan 2.

India’s second Moon mission, which launched on July 22, is seeking to explore the unchartered lunar south pole by landing a rover.

Chandrayaan-2 comes 11 years after ISRO’s successful first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1, which scripted history by making more than 3,400 orbits around the Moon and was operational for 312 days, till August 29, 2009.

Images provided by ISRO of Earth as viewed by the Chandrayaan 2 moon mission’s LI4 Camera on Saturday

The landing of Chandrayaan-2, comprising an orbiter, lander and rover, is slated to take place by the first week of September.

Billed as the most complex and prestigious mission ever undertaken by ISRO, Chandrayaan-2 will make India the fourth country to soft-land arover on the lunar surface after Russia, the United States and China.

Once it touches down, the lander – named Vikram – will carry out experiments while being controlled remotely by ISRO scientists. It is expected to work for one lunar day, the equivalent of 14 Earth days, and will look for signs of water and “a fossil record of the early solar system”.

The orbiter is planned to circle the Moon for about one year, imaging the surface and studying the atmosphere. The 3.8-tonne Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was carried into orbit by the GSLV-Mk III, ISRO’s largest ever rocket.

The GSLV-Mk III rocket carrying Chandrayaan-2 was originally scheduled for launch on July 15. Owing to a serious technical glitch, the flight was postponed to July 22.

As a result, ISRO made changes in the mission schedule. Vikram was originally planned to land on the moon 54 days after the rocket’s lift off, but will now land in 48 days instead.